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Laura Ingraham: The Never Trump Crowd Is Still A Nuisance, And Still Wrong

Now that the "Electoral College will revolt against Trump" fantasy is
officially dead, certain Republicans like Wehner still can't do the
"Frozen" thing and "let it go."

On issue after issue, for the last 20 years or so,
the bipartisan Establishment has delivered policies that were not
moderate, or even safe.

No rallying around the White House, or lectures about
unity, for Wehner. Instead, in a column in The New York Times, he
continues his attacks on the president-elect while celebrating what he
calls the "ancient virtue" of moderation. He fears that moderation is
"out of step with the times, which are characterized by populist anger
and widespread anxiety." He's right about the anger and anxiety. But, as
usual, he's wrong in his diagnosis. The voters didn't turn on the
Clinton/Bush Establishment because it was too moderate -- instead, they
turned on it because it was too radical.

The whole problem with Wehner's argument is that it rests on a flawed
understanding of what "moderation" looks like. He has confused the
message with the form in which it is delivered. Donald Trump often gives
fiery and dramatic speeches in front of thousands of cheering
blue-collar types.

George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton prefer giving
really dull speeches to small groups of extremely rich people. Wehner
assumes that the cheering blue-collar types want radical policies, while
the boring millionaires want to be safe and steady.

But this assumption
is simply incorrect. On issue after issue, for the last 20 years or so,
the bipartisan Establishment has delivered policies that were not
moderate, or even safe:

1.) It was not moderate to respond to 9/11 with a
sweeping plan to bring democracy to every nation in the Middle East,
even nations that had no tradition of free and open elections.

2.) It was not moderate for a president -- no matter
how much money he raised from big donors -- to radically alter the
immigration policy of the United States by unilaterally refusing to
enforce the law.

3.) It was not moderate to take the position that
almost any effort to push back at the market-distorting practices of
China -- practices that include theft of intellectual property,
providing government support for massive state-owned enterprises, and
the deliberate creation of overcapacity in key industries like steel and
aluminum -- is nothing more than "protectionism."

4.) It was not moderate to assume that any deal
claiming to advance "free trade" -- even a 5,500-page deal negotiated by
President Obama -- is good for the United States.

5.) It was not moderate to stretch the executive
war-making power to its absolute constitutional limits -- and to double
down on unpopular wars even when the voters send clear signals to change
course.

6.) It was not moderate to do nothing, year after
year, to prevent a massive housing bubble that almost destroyed the
economy in 2008.

7.) It was not moderate to go to Republican voters
who were furious with party leadership, and who had been complaining
about the immigration issue for almost 20 years, and tell them that the
only two acceptable presidential candidates in 2016 were Jeb Bush and
Marco Rubio.

On each and every one of these points, it's the Bush
supporters like Wehner who are the radicals, and the Trump voters who
are simply trying to reassert common sense.

With respect to immigration,
for example, the moderate -- and even prudent -- thing to do is to
assure everyone that the laws on the books will be enforced without
special privileges for anyone. The notion that the president executes
the laws as written is a bedrock principle of our democracy, but one
that was sadly ignored in recent decades.

Similarly, it makes sense to use our economic
leverage over China to encourage that country to stop acting in ways
that distort markets -- it is not only radicalism but folly to pretend
China will change on its own. And finally, both common sense and caution
demand that after years of relative economic decline, the United States
must align its foreign policy goals with the resources that are
available to achieve those goals.

For years, many Americans have been
mystified that their radical leaders in Washington are too stubborn to
acknowledge these obvious points. And last month, they gave the White
House to the only candidate who showed enough moderation to credibly
plot a new course on these issues.

We need to understand that talking in a low tone of voice doesn't make you a moderate.

American politics will enter a new era on January 20,
2017, and so it's very important for us to understand how we got here.
Trump didn't win the election because the voters wanted to do radical
things like threaten war with Russia, eliminate any legal distinction
between citizens and non-citizens, require gay marriage by judicial fiat
in all 50 states, sell off more and more of the country to China, or
allow policy discussions to be dominated by a tiny coterie of insiders
and donors. Trump won the election because the voters were trying to
stop those type of radical notions.

Furthermore, we need to understand that talking in a
low tone of voice doesn't make you a moderate. Populist candidates like
Donald Trump will always communicate in a very dramatic way, because
that's the only way they can overcome the institutional advantages of
their elite opponents. But after two decades of radical ideas couched in
really boring prose, Trump is actually offering common sense solutions
that are much more consistent with our history and prior practice.

Until Peter Wehner and his fellow Bush supporters
realize these facts, they will keep misunderstanding what has already
happened in 2016 and what is likely to happen next.

Laura Ingraham joined FOX News Channel in 2007 and currently
serves as a contributor, providing political analysis and commentary to
FNC's daytime and primetime programming. She is the Editor-in-Chief of LifeZette.com.
In addition to her role as a contributor, Ingraham is a frequent
substitute host on FNC's "The O'Reilly Factor." As the host of the radio
program "The Laura Ingraham Show," she is also the most listened-to
woman in political talk radio in the United States, heard by hundreds of
radio stations nationwide. Ingraham previously served as a litigator
and Supreme Court law clerk.

Laura Ingraham: The Never Trump Crowd Is Still A Nuisance, And Still Wrong
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on
December 20, 2016
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